Basically on Dec 18 2012 Instagram announced a change in their service policy that meant Instagram could use any images posted for their own advertising purposes, without paying the creator of the image.

This was indeed a greedy position, and many others who slammed Instagram agree. Customers swore they would delete their accounts, and no doubt some did.

Not surprisingly, Instagram had so much heat over this they decided not to change their policy. It only took 3 days to back-pedal, so by Dec 21 2012 the idea was dead.

However, Instagram does have a problem, because they do need to make money somehow. Their problem is how they went about it. A little revenue sharing, with opt-in or opt-out options to use images this way could have made for a great opportunity. Artists need to make money, so sharing is only fair!

"There's a natural divide between users wanting privacy and brands wanting to leverage users' behavior and content. I actually think who owns the content and what rights they have is going to continue to be an issue and really come in focus into 2013. I think we'll see more privacy lawsuits and claims. If you are using a service and you are not paying for it, you are the product. "

As artists, your artwork is the product when you post on social media. You may be benefiting from social media today, but keep a close watch, as we will too. The more monetizing these sites and services become, the more they may try to encroach on your copyright.

In a way, I think you get what you pay for is still applicable. So how are we all going to pay for social media that helps us to promote? What are your thoughts?